The purpose of the hearing is for a judge to decide if you can or cannot work at a full-time job (40 hours per week). The judge will make that decision by reviewing all of your medical records, all the forms you filled out, and by listening to you talk about your symptoms.
It is very important that you tell the truth
If the judge believes you are being upfront and honest you have a much better chance of winning your hearing and getting Social Security disability checks. But if the judge thinks you are exaggerating your symptoms, or leaving out important information, you will most likely lose.
You should know the date you said you became disabled, and why you chose that date. For example, is it the day your doctor said you can no longer do your job? The judge will also want to know when you last worked, and why the work ended. Did you quit, or were you terminated? Did your disabilities cause you to stop working?
Symptoms
Symptoms, like pain, or problems concentrating, are what keep you from working. Judges will not accept “I can’t do anything” as an explanation for why you can’t work. Symptoms describe how you feel. No one knows how you feel better than you. You know where you hurt and when you hurt. So it is up to you to describe those symptoms to the judge in detail and as vividly as possible. Telling the judge the name of your health problem like, “I have arthritis”, is not enough. There are many people with arthritis who are able to continue working. The judge may even have arthritis! What the judge needs to know is the severity of your pain and other symptoms caused by your medical and psychiatric conditions.
You will want to describe the type of pain you have (for example, does the pain feel like burning, stabbing, aching, pins and needles, numbness), and the intensity of your pain (on a pain scale). Or if you have depression the judge will want to know, for example, the problems you have concentrating on a TV show, movie or book because of your depression.
Judges often ask you to rate your pain in an average day based on a pain scale with 0 being no pain, and 10 excruciating pain. Most people do not have pain that gets to 10 frequently. Most judges will not believe you if you say your pain is at a 10 level all the time, because judges think a level 10 pain would cause a person to go to the emergency room, or to roll up into a fetal position. These are the examples the judge may think of when a person says they have pain at a 10 level. Pain medication is supposed to reduce the pain level below 10.
If you have good days and bad days you need to explain what a good day is like (for example, you can do light household chores) and what a bad day is like (for example, you sit in a recliner most of the day), and how many good and bad days you have in a typical week or month. If you say you have good days “sometimes” or “occasionally” or “once in a while”, the judge won’t know if you mean you have good days one time a week or four times a week. The judge is required to determine the facts of your case, and therefore they need you to give your best estimate using specific numbers.
Along with asking about your symptoms, you will typically be asked about your education and training, work experience and work skills, medical conditions, treatment history, physical abilities (how much you are able to stand, walk, sit and lift), mental abilities (problems with concentration, memory, becoming overwhelmed), and daily activities.
Treat the judge with the courtesy and honesty
When the judge asks a question, don’t try to figure out why the judge is asking that particular question or whether your answer will help or hurt your case. Be truthful about your strengths as well as about your limitations. Don’t pretend to cry or be in pain. The judge will read all your medical records, so it’s not good to try to hide things like drug use or injuries while doing recreational activities. If you are uncomfortable sitting and it would help to stand up, ask the judge for permission and they will allow you to stand when you need to so you will be as comfortable as possible.
Tell Your Story
This is time to explain why you can’t work because of your condition. This is not like a criminal case where your lawyer may tell you to give short answers and not volunteer anything. At your social security hearing you need to provide facts and details in your testimony to prove to the judge that you are disabled and can no longer work.
Estimating your limitations
How far specifically can you walk? (For example, if you say “not very far”, it could mean 10 feet to one person, or a mile to another. You need to give your best estimate of the number of feet you can walk, or if you can walk one block or one half of a block). How long specifically can you sit? (For example, if you say “not very long” it could be 10 minutes to one person, or two hours to another. You need to give the best estimate of the number of minutes you can sit before you need to walk around, or lay down) How much specifically can you lift? (A gallon of milk is 8.6 pounds, a12-pack of soda is about 11 pounds. Coke in the 24-can “refrigerator” pack is 21 pounds).
It’s important to let the judge know if you have trouble with your arms, hands and fingers. Do you drop things, have trouble opening jars, reaching into cupboards, trouble writing because of trembling, shaking or weakness, or trouble picking up things like coins or buttoning buttons.
Questions you will likely be asked
You will probably be asked to describe your typical day beginning with the time you normally get up in the morning to the time you go to bed, and what you do in between. The Judge will want to know how you spend a typical 24-hour day. Describe how many hours you are asleep and awake, and how many hours you are actively doing things like cooking, cleaning, driving, shopping. After doing those type of things how many minutes or hours you need to rest afterwards. It’s good to give details about resting —where you rest, whether it’s sitting or lying down, whether it’s on the couch or the bed or a recliner chair. Describe things that you need help from other people to do, like grocery shopping, household chores, or grooming.
Vocational expert
There will be a vocational expert at your hearing who will tell the judge the jobs you did in the past and how much lifting, walking and sitting the jobs required according to the “DOT”, the “dictionary of occupational titles”. We have to prove that you can no longer do the jobs you had in the past, and any other jobs suitable for your age.
The social security rules say a full-time job is 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. During an 8 hour day a person gets a 15 minute break in the morning, a half hour lunch, and a 15 minute break in the afternoon. Do you need extra breaks from work? What do you need to do on such a break? Sit? Walk around? Lie down? Sit in a recliner with your feet above your waist? How often during the workday do you need such breaks? (every half hour or hour). How long in minutes should each break be? How many days which you miss, coming late, or need to leave early?
The end of the hearing
Hearings usually take about one hour. You will find out whether you won or lost when you are mailed the judge’s written decision. Judges can take up to 12 weeks, or longer, to write their decision.
Finally, don’t worry. Being nervous about your hearing is normal. However your representative will be there to help you if you forget to say something, or if the judge asks you a question you have trouble answering.
